Whether the jaw-dropping circumstances or final destination-style car accidents,

133 days stranded at sea, or 30 minutes on the seabed without any oxygen,

some incredibly lucky people had their bacon saved when the odds were truly stacked against them.

I'm warning you this podcast is going to be a real nail-biter.

If you're looking for danger, camping out next to an active volcano is one sure fire way to find it.

Back in 1980, Danny J. Balk and his friend Brian Thomas were camping in a meadow near Mount St. Helens

when they were jolted awake at 8.32 a.m. by an intense rumbling sound.

When the pair looked out of the tent window, their worst fears were confirmed.

An eruption was heading their way. As they dashed for the tree line, Balk was hit by a blast of heat

and a shower of ash, mud, and ice that caked him in grit and pushed him flat to the ground.

In those few seconds, his entire body went from frozen

to baked as the extreme heat melted the skin off his fingers. When he came to, Bulk called out

for Thomas and managed to wait into the river to soothe his burns. As he resumed his search

and began scrambling through fallen trees, he suddenly felt a hand on his left shoulder that took him by surprise.

When he looked down, he was shocked to see Thomas under a tangle of tree limbs.

Thomas had a broken hip, but Bunk was able to pull him up just before the cloud of ash plunged the sky into darkness

so that neither man could see just inches in front of them.

Miraculously, two other campers in the group, Bruce Nelson and Sue Ruff, who had been toasting marshmallows at the time of the explosion,

saw the two men and helped carry Thomas to the ruins of an old cabin where they built a makeshift lean to.

Balk then set off with the others to find rescue and they were eventually spotted at about 6 p.m. by two helicopters. But he didn't forget about Thomas.

Bok used a map to show them where his friend was and the men were airlifted to hospital to recover.

The worst part is that Bok had wanted to go to the beach that day, but was convinced by Thomas to go to hospital to recover. The worst part is that Bach had wanted to go to the beach that

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